Hurry while it lasts! The multi-award winning, Wings of Glass, is on sale for just 1.99 through the end of March only. E-book sites: B&N, Google, Apple, CBD, Amazon and other ebook sites. Please let your Christian fiction fan friends, and women who might have an interest in the topic of overcoming domestic violence know!

Best Books of 2013: Library Journal

2014 INSPY Winner

ECPA Book of the Year Finalist

Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Finalist

Southern Indie Booksellers Alliance OKRA Pick

Southern Literary Review Read of the Month: “Wings of Glass proves Gina Holmes’s mettle as an author. This a solid novel, for Holmes has deftly handled a story about domestic violence that is both heart-wrenching and endearing at the same time.”

Book Description

Wings of Glassis a powerful, can’t-put-down novel, so real that it reads like a memoir. (Liz Curtis Higgs, New York Times bestselling author)

In this “emotional, faith-based novel” (Booklist), single mother Jenny must find a family for her five-year-old daughter before her terminal illness tears the two of them apart. Can Jenny make amends with her high school sweetheart and her estranged father before time runs out?

“As always, Gina Holmes paints vivid characters who are fraught with frailties, yet bear the hope of being something more. They are real, deeply felt, and unmistakably unique. In this novel, there is a confused bride-to-be, an insecure groom, a haughty socialite, a drunken driftwood artist and an intensely loyal bathing-suit-top-wearing artist’s assistant. They are authentic, lovable and even aggravating at times–just like family. And yet they have the capability, with the help of a loving Father-God, to become more than the sum of their parts. They can be what God created them to be.

I love the metaphor of the driftwood artist. It is what God is to us. He can take old scraps of wood, beaten and worn, and turn them into something useful and beautiful. This story is about imperfection and brokenness, and how even the ugliest of elements can be repurposed for His Glory.”

– Review date: 8/8/14, written by Connie Almony of Jesusfreakhideout.com

He made himself an island until something unexpected washed ashore.

When Holton lost his wife, Adele, in a freak accident, he shut himself off from the world, living a life of seclusion, making drifwood sculptures and drowning his pain in gin. Until twenty-three-year-old Libby knocks on his door, asking for a job and claiming to be a friend of his late wife. When he discovers Libby is actually his late wife’s illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption without his knowledge, his life is turned upside down as he struggles to accept that the wife he’d given saint status to was not the woman he thought he knew.

Together Holton and Libby form an unlikely bond as the two struggle to learn the identity of Libby’s father and the truth about Adele, themselves, and each other.

1. if you buy a new copy of Driftwood Tides, latest novel by Gina Holmes Ebook or paperback), simply friend her on facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/gina.waters.372 and message or comment that you purchased it. (Receipt with date will be required if you win and the date must be by Sept. 29th, 2014.

The winner will be randomly drawn on Sept 30th, 2014, and announced on my facebook personal and author page. You will also be notified via fb message if possible.

Winner will have 7 days to claim their prize, provide a valid shipping address (continental US only) and phone # for shipping purposes and receipt of purchase during the month of August or September, 2014.

2. No purchase neccesary: You will also be entered if you post a review on any of the major book buying sites before Sept. 29th, 2014 You will still need to friend Gina at above fb address and comment with a link to your review. If you win you may be asked to prove you are the author of the review.

Prize may be substitued for prize of equal value. (unlikely)

*You may enter more than once 1 entry for review (regardless of how many sites you post review) , 1 entry per new book purchased (kindle or paperback, receipt required dated prior to Sept. 29th). *If you do not wish to purchase a book but want to enter via review, you may borrow it from local library, bookswap or friend.

Driftwood Tides

“Holmes weaves a superb story of discovering how to forgive.” Romantic Times

Hi team, NR found, Gina Holmes here. Every time I have a new book release, I ask my tribe (that’s you) if you can help spread the word. Here I am again, groveling at your feet. (Actually, I’m sitting at my desk in the dark drinking my coffee and trying to not wake up my husband, but INSIDE I’m groveling).

If you’re willing and able to help out, here are a few things to choose from. I will be giving away prizes, a gift basket, autographed novels, that sort of thing.

2. If you’ve read and enjoyed it, post a review on Amazon, B&N, Lifeway, CBD, or favorite book buying site (or better yet, your blog or website). You can pick up a handy book cover jpeg and book description on my website HERE. Or just pull it off Amazon: HERE.

“Holmes weaves a superb story of discovering how to forgive. The tale flows delicately when it needs to and is hard-hitting at other times. The balance allows the novel to unfold in a way that is most satisfying in the end. “

Posted on Jul 13, 2014 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Wings of Glass FREE this week only

The INSPY Award is a blogger’s choice award for inspirational fiction. Today it was announced that Wings of Glass has won in the General Fiction category. This award is particularly close to my heart. This is what they said: “The field of nominees for the General Fiction category had some of the best books we have read this year, making this year’s selection process difficult indeed. After a lot of in depth discussion, we are awarding the Inspy to Wings of Glass by Gina Holmes. A moving account of a woman’s struggle with self in the face of spousal abuse, this novel will touch your heart and soul. Powerfully personal, beautifully written, with highly relatable characters, Gina Holmes’ novel presents a message of love and hope that Jesus always offered to everyone He met.” Read about the other finalists and winners: www.inspys.com.

When I began writing novels, description was not an area of strength for me, and setting was just a place to plop my characters. Fast forward ten years and my publisher compliments my upcoming release with a “You can smell the salt in this one.” Driftwood Tides (releasing this September) is set at the Outer banks in North Carolina. You can’t set a book a place like that without readers expecting a richly painted scene. They want to feel the cold ocean foam on their feet, feel the grit of sand between their toes, hear the seagulls circling above, see the cotton candy colors in the sunset . . . and yes, smell the salt.

1.The best way to learn to master setting is by reading other books that have done just that. One novel that sets the scene better than maybe any other book I’ve read is To Kill a Mockingbird. Here’s one example of the masterfulness of her scene-setting:

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop, grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.” You don’t get better than that.

Another novel that nails setting is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. My first novel, Crossing Oceans was probably my best for setting and may give you a few ideas, and a recent release, Born of Persuasion, by Jessica Dotta does a masterful job of bringing another time and place to life.

2.Go and feel the roses

It might go without saying to go to the place you are setting your work, but I’m going to say it anyway. If you’re setting your scene in Maine, by all means go there and experience that setting. Close your eyes and listen, first to the up front sounds: sirens, traffic, subway, whatever. But don’t stop there. Listen for the underlying background noise: car doors slamming, a car alarm in the distance, children laughing, the flutter of pigeon wings. Now, listen beyond that to the softer noises until you’ve made note of all the sounds the setting has to offer. When your eyes are closed and you’re noting a particular sound, before you open your eyes, try to guess what you’re hearing.

While writing Driftwood Tides, I sat on the beach, closed my eyes and heard what I would have guessed to be a sprinkler system rapidly firing. I knew it couldn’t be, but that’s what it sounded like. It was actually the sound of chirping chicadas and the sprinkler system description was something I was able to use to describe that sound in the book.

You can do the same close your eyes technique for smell and touch too. Write down as many descriptions and comparisons as you can while they’re still fresh in your mind.

3.If you can’t go there, the next best thing is visiting vicariously. Watch movies set where your book is, take lots of notes. Read books, magazine articles, blog posts, etc set there. Keep pictures of the inside and outside of the home, courthouse, city streets, etc. that you can continue to reference as you write. Pictures of the furrniture, toy box, anything that you might need to describe. Study your pictures, then close your eyes and imagine what sounds, smells, touches you would experience in that setting.

4.Observe the details. One little trick that brings fiction to life lies in writing in the little things that we take for granted. Not just the sandy beach, but the broken bits of seaweed and shell left in the wake of a retreating wave. The water that fills a footprint left in the sand… watch how it is absorbed back into the ground and the tiny bubbles that pop up right before it does. These are the things that will firmly plant your reader into your story.

5.Have your setting serve more of a purpose than just eye or ear candy. Setting a scene is important to ground your readers, but it should also help us to get to know your characters better. Having your character experience the setting thrrough their unique outlook, mood and life experiences kills two birds with one stone. If your character is an Eyore type, or just feeling melancholy at the moment, then the boulder she is sitting on may feel hard and cold. If she was just proposed to by the man of her dreams, than maybe she doesn’t notice the boulder, but focuses instead on the meadow of wildflowers swaying in the soft breeze beside her. If she has just lost someone she loves, the moment may be bitter sweet. She notices the flowers, smiles, but then her smile fades when she sees how many of the daisys are losing their pedals or are drying up from the dry summer. You get the picture. And so will your readers.

________________________________

Gina Holmes is the founder of Novel Rocket, regularly named as one of Writers Digest’s best websites for writers. Her debut, Crossing Oceans, was a Christy and Gold Medallion finalist and winner of the Carol Award, INSPY, and RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice, as well as being a CBA, ECPA, Amazon and PW bestseller. Her sophomore novel, Dry as Rain was a Christy Award finalist. Her latest novel, Wings of Glass has been named as one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and was a SIBA Okra pick and a finalist for Romantic Times’ Reviewers Choice Award. She holds degrees in science and nursing and currently resides with her family in southern Virginia. She works too hard, laughs too loud, and longs to see others heal from their past and discover their God-given purpose. To learn more about her, visit www.ginaholmes.com.

Including the upcoming Driftwood Tides. Simply share on your facebook or social media page that Driftwood Tides is now available for Pre-Order and link it to my author page: https://www.facebook.com/authorginaholmes?ref=hl. Or simply send me an email or fb message letting me know!

I’ll choose winners at random and will send autographed copies of Crossing Oceans, Dry as Rain and Wings of Glass now and Driftwood Tides once it releases.

We have a cover for my upcoming release, (September 2014), Driftwood Tides.

He made himself an island until something unexpected washed ashore.

When Holton lost his wife, Adele, in a freak accident, he shut himself off from the world, living a life of seclusion, making drifwood sculptures and drowning his pain in gin. Until twenty-three-year-old Libby knocks on his door, asking for a job and claiming to be a friend of his late wife. When he discovers Libby is actually his late wife’s illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption without his knowledge, his life is turned upside down as he struggles to accept that the wife he’d given saint status to was not the woman he thought he knew.

Together Holton and Libby form an unlikely bond as the two struggle to learn the identity of Libby’s father and the truth about Adele, themselves, and each other.

“Author Gina Holmes does a masterful job pulling the reader into this character’s life without overloading the reader in a world which can be disconcerting to many. Rather than begin the story in a tedious development of abuse, or saturate us in the violence of the present, she starts us at a point where Trent is injured, leaving Penny to fend for their family, offering her both challenges and opportunities. As Penny writes to her young son, Manny, “I hate to wish bad things on you, son, but I hope you get the privilege someday of having no one to lean on but God. It changes a person. It sure changed me.” Penny is forced to connect with others, and as God often does, He provides someone who can see through the lies Penny uses to “protect” her husband, and can guide her in ways to protect herself.” Jesusfreakhideout.com Read the rest HERE.

Book Club Movable Feast

Bookmarks invites you to join us for a Book Club Movable Feast Sunday, February 93:00 – 5:00 PM Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, Winston-Salem, NC

Back by popular demand, Bookmarks will present our 2nd Annual Book Club Movable Feast. It will be held at The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, in Winston-Salem, NC.

The program will begin at 3:00 PM sharp. Attendees will be seated at tables where they will be joined by an author. Over the course of the Movable Feast, 25 published authors from all over the country will sit with attendees to talk with them about his or her recently published book. This year, each table will be visited by 8 authors for 10 minutes each. Opportunity for further discussion will proceed and follow the Movable Feast.

Doors open and book sales begin at 2:15 PM. Booksignings will follow the program.